With 9 rounds of blitz left to be played at the SuperUnited Tournament in Croatia, Fabiano Caruana has an impressive 4½-point lead over his closest chasers, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Wesley So. MVL caught So in second place after scoring 6½ points on the first day of blitz, as the Frenchman grabbed 5 wins and only lost to Ian Nepomniachtchi on Saturday.
Caruana collected 6/9 points on the fourth day of action, with some lucky breaks helping him score a few extra half points — for example, in round 2, Gukesh failed to find the right way to give a check in a double-edged position.
Here Black wins with 47...Qe3+, and the white monarch will be effectively cornered on the kingside. Gukesh went for 47...Qxg3+ instead, and Caruana managed not only to escape with a draw but to win the game after his Indian opponent blundered again soon after. After the text, the king managed to find shelter on the queenside eventually.
Sole leader Fabiano Caruana | Photo: Lennart Ootes
It was not all good luck for Caruana, though, who left a whole rook en prise in his round-6 encounter against Alireza Firouzja.
White is a whole rook up, and can win the game either with the simple 38.Qf7+ Kh7 39.Rg2 or with the more flashy 38.Rf8+ Kxf8 39.Qxd6+. Neither of these moves appeared on the board, however, as Caruana played 38.Rc8+, failing to notice that the queen is guarding that very square from h3.
This was not a case of mutual blindness, as Firouzja quickly grabbed the rook and went on to win the game. The French GM collected 6 points on Saturday, and stands 5 points behind the leader in the overall standings.
Alireza Firouzja | Photo: Lennart Ootes
There was a bit of controversy in the final round played on Saturday. Nepomniachtchi was completely winning with black against So, with both players in deep time trouble.
A few minutes later, it was informed that Nepo had lost the game on time, and then had filed an appeal to correct the game’s result, given what he considered to be unruly behaviour by his opponent. The arbiters decided to keep the game’s original score (a win for So).
Nepo later shared a video from his game against So from the Levitov Chess Week Tournament last year, noting that So had behaved similarly on both occasions.
Regarding today's game with Wesley. Long story (almost) short.
— Ian Nepomniachtchi (@lachesisq) July 13, 2024
He did precisely the same that you can see in the video below. This eventually played a role in the game, as I lost the pace and the feeling of clock and even lost on time (lol).https://t.co/raNJiH9BOH
Wesley So and Ian Nepomniachtchi | Photo: Lennart Ootes
